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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26998327">February Brings the Rain</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/99bad_habits/pseuds/99bad_habits'>99bad_habits</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Magic Moments [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bath Sex, Comfort Sex, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Post-Canon, Raelle is a care bear, Scylla has a lot of Feelings, Slice of Life, Soft Girlfriends, Vaginal Fingering</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:21:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,575</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26998327</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/99bad_habits/pseuds/99bad_habits</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Scylla is down in the dumps, but Raelle has a plan to cheer her up.</p><p>Set in the same post canon universe as <a>This Magic Moment</a>, but you can absolutely read this as a standalone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Magic Moments [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2241558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>February Brings the Rain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A MASSIVE thank you to @vuvalinis for beta'ing this and just being an absolute angel in general. You are a star bb</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The rain began falling at around 4pm. Snow had come and gone early this February, making way for an unpredictable series of sleety showers. Scylla could feel the warmth leeching from her hand where she had put it up against the bedroom window. She had spent the past few days making a game of counting the brumal flowers in the clearing behind the house. They had been the lone bright spots of color amid the muted tones of late winter. Today, however, their presence eluded her, the downpour only allowing for the hazy suggestions of branches from the forest beyond. In the waning light of the retreating sun the outside world seemed insubstantial, almost unreal.</p><p> She blew on the window, banishing the image behind a fog of white, then sighed and turned away. The walls of the house seemed to press down on her, and she inwardly cursed the fact that her office in town had closed due to the weather. She shivered, and grabbed a shawl from the bed en route to her desk. The house had grown cold and the fire in the living room below the mezzanine had died. Scylla lacked the will to reignite it. Instead, she wrapped the shawl around her shoulders before slouching into her work chair.</p><p> There she paused, fussing over a stack of notes she had arranged near a makeshift altar comprised of a chalice, her athame, and a chalk circle. Next to that were the samples. Rows and rows of them, organized and labelled in sealed jars. She flexed her fingers for what seemed like the hundredth time and traced a runic sequence over her latest experiment.</p><p>The formula was one of her own creations; the canon sets suggested by Izadora had so far proved unsuccessful. In contrast, her sequence had responded well with other fungi species and resonated with the seed trapped in the sample jar to facilitate the Work. Theoretically, her combination should work on this sample of the Mother. There was no reason it shouldn’t.</p><p>Which made the total lack of response utterly galling. Scylla collapsed back in her chair, glaring at the sample as it sat placidly in its jar, almost mocking her in its steadfast refusal to respond. Maybe her Work was off. Maybe she needed to re-seed the jar. Maybe it was a flawed sample. Maybe she was using the wrong runes. Maybe, maybe, maybe.</p><p>Maybe this was simply an impossible endeavor. Maybe she should just give in and accept her failure.</p><p>She grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she lay her cheek against the smooth surface of her desk. As she ran her fingers along its edge, she thought of Raelle. Clean cut. Lacking in ornamentation, but striking in its simplicity. It smelled faintly of pine, and brought to mind Raelle’s proud smile when she presented the desk to Scylla, a smudge of linseed oil on her cheek. Handmade, of course. Raelle had made most of the furniture in their house. And done all the repairs. It meant so much to her - making a home<em>.</em></p><p>Scylla tried to relate. But she’d learned early on about the dangers of growing attached to places, and the things in them. Stability was a new fit for her, and she was still adjusting to all the trappings of domesticity. This strange concept of having a “home.”</p><p>But it was nice to have a place with Raelle. Their place. And Raelle had made her this desk. The act itself was more precious to her than the object. But still, it was a beautiful piece of furniture. Perhaps she could come to grow as attached to it as she was to its maker.</p><p>She heard the front door open in a blast of rain, wind roaring through the house before ending abruptly with a slam. Prolific cursing replaced the sound of the storm. Scylla smiled into the desk. Speak of the devil.</p><p>“Scyl?” Raelle’s voice rang through the house.</p><p>“I’m up here,” Scylla responded without moving, instead opening her eyes to stare out of the window again. Nothing but gray.</p><p>She heard the familiar thump of Raelle’s duffel on the floor below and the creak of the mezzanine stairs.</p><p>“Things going well for you, huh?” drawled Raelle from somewhere behind her.</p><p>“Yes, as you can see, I’m up to my elbows in progress.”</p><p>“Mushroom still being a little asshole?”</p><p>“I wish. That would imply it was actually doing something.” Scylla huffed before swapping cheeks so she was facing Raelle. “You’re home early.” </p><p>Raelle, hair tousled by the wind and face still damp from the rain, leaned in to kiss Scylla’s temple. “Quiet day. Thought I’d finish early.”</p><p>Scylla’s eyes narrowed at Raelle’s nonchalance. “You usually have to be dragged out of the clinic.”</p><p>“Yeah, well. Not today.”</p><p>“Is everything okay?”</p><p>“That’s my line.” Raelle’s face contorted into a worried frown. “You’ve uh, kinda faceplanted into your desk. Again.”</p><p>“Well, it’s a lovely desk. We’re becoming very close.”</p><p>Raelle raised an eyebrow. “It’s not the first time I’ve come home to find you like this, is my point.”</p><p>Scylla reached up to dab at Raelle’s face with her shawl. Then she sighed, wrapping her arm around the warmth of her torso. It was dry; Raelle must have worn her hoodless jacket today. “I’m stuck again. Nothing is working. I was certain that this sample would be the one, the breakthrough we’ve been looking for.” She stared moodily at the offending jar.</p><p>“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself, Scyl.”</p><p>Scylla looked at her feet. “You know what’s at stake.”</p><p>Raelle kneeled and ducked her head to catch her girlfriend’s eye. “I do,” she said, tone gentle. “And I still think you’re being too hard on yourself.”</p><p>Scylla’s mouth pressed into an unhappy line. How hard she pushed herself didn’t factor into things. All that mattered were results. Results that she was becoming desperate for.</p><p>Despite the defeat of the Camarilla and the dismantling of Alder’s military, the witching world still had its fair share of messes to contend with. Some of the worst were the deadly plagues caused by centuries of the military’s unbalanced Work. It would be a fine irony if witchkind avoided eradication by its oldest enemy only to die out anyway because of Alder’s hubris. Such a neat little tragedy. Scylla could almost appreciate it.</p><p>If not for the existential threat to her kind. Scylla’s former Necro colleagues from the military were convinced that the Mother was the key to solving the plague conundrum. Scylla concurred; and so when they approached her with an offer to join their research into finding cures, she had agreed.</p><p><em>“Think of the lives you could save</em>.” Izadora’s words, simple and efficient as a blade to the heart. Of course she’d joined.</p><p>Because it was a sound theory. That was all. She didn’t fool herself. She was no savior. That was a role best left to Craven, Atlantic, and Raelle. Most of all, Raelle. But this, this she could do.</p><p>It was the least she could do.</p><p>She wrapped her hands around her coffee mug. February 19th. After all this time, she could still recall the sensation of a balloon string trailing through her fingertips. How vivid the red, white and blue of the bunting had been. Yet try as she might, she couldn’t recollect a single face. The crowds of people, tier upon tier of them, remained an obstinate blur. She had been both proud and terrified, then. But now all she could feel was sorrow. The struggle to reconcile the conflicting feelings of past and present was surreal, and for a strange moment she felt divided, two Scyllas sharing the same memory. </p><p>She inhaled, and the scent left by the cold contents of her mug pulled her away, to an earlier moment.</p><p>“<em>You’ll never be able to re-balance the equation.” </em>Willa’s words had been as bitter as her coffee.<em> “Even a single life taken is permanent. No amount of ‘good’ can ever make up for it. So, you might as well go all-in.</em>” Never one for sugar-coating, Willa. Not even on the morning of a mass murder.</p><p>She had been right, though. There were some things there was no coming back from.</p><p>“Hey, beautiful.” Raelle’s face swam into focus. “Where did you go?”</p><p>A clever dismissal was on the tip of Scylla’s tongue, an old reflex. She swallowed it at Raelle’s earnest expression. “I...was thinking about something Willa told me, once.”</p><p> She watched Raelle stiffen at the mention of her mother, face twisting in a mess of emotions. Scylla reached up to cup it, immediately regretting the tumult her words had caused.</p><p>“Scyl—”</p><p> “Don’t worry about it.” Scylla inwardly winced at cutting Raelle off even as she kept her expression bland. It was for Raelle’s own good. Talking about Willa was rarely productive. And if it meant they avoided any other topics that might have been troubling Scylla, like balloons at malls, hopeless equations, and existential plagues, then that was just a fortunate by-product.</p><p>Raelle regarded her carefully. It always amazed Scylla how eyes the color of a cold sky could also be so warm. But that was just Raelle. Open, honest Raelle Collar, who couldn’t hide the disappointment on her face.</p><p>“Okay. I’ll let you finish up here.” She pushed off her knee and kissed the top of Scylla’s head. “Want me to heat this up? Add some sugar?” she asked, spinning Scylla’s coffee mug.</p><p>“No, thank you,” Scylla murmured.</p><p>“Alright.”</p><p>Scylla’s chest tightened as she watched Raelle walk away, Willa’s words weighing her down like an anchor. She had always accepted them, even before she could truly appreciate their full significance. Yet every year they got harder to bear. </p><p>Turning back to her sample, she made a few half-hearted attempts at provoking a reaction before giving up and focusing on a write-up for Izadora instead.</p><p>She was a page in when she heard a loud clang followed by a scraping sound from downstairs.</p><p>“Raelle?” she called from her chair. “What was that?” She heard a muffled response and an odd, gong-like crash. Alarmed, she rushed over to the mezzanine banister just as Raelle, holding a varied assortment of towels and bottles, emerged into view. She dumped the armful between the fireplace and a brass tub, the latter a recent addition to the living room and probable source of the mysterious racket.</p><p>“I’m running a bath.”</p><p> “I see,” responded Scylla, nonplussed, as she tracked Raelle’s movements. “If I recall correctly, we already have a shower and a bathroom.”</p><p>“We do.”</p><p> “It took you six months to build. You swore the entire time, it was very impressive.”</p><p>“Glad you think so.”</p><p>Scylla watched the top of Raelle’s head disappear beneath the edge of the mezzanine and heard more clattering from the vicinity of the kitchen, followed by the sound of a tap running. Moments later, Raelle emerged back into view carrying a large pot of steaming water which she dumped into the tub. She then returned to the kitchen.</p><p>“My point,” Scylla said as she continued her observation, “Is that we’re already good to go with the bathing situation.”</p><p>“I thought this might be nice. In front of the fire ‘n all.”</p><p>Scylla couldn’t argue with that. The approaching evening had intensified the day’s chill, even with Raelle moving around and warming up the house. Watching her bathe in front of a crackling fire sounded like a mighty fine distraction.</p><p>She tapped the banister as she drifted down the stairs, calculating the best angle to ogle Raelle. She ignored the dead weight in her chest and stifled the impulse to turn back and wallow in her failures. As she took the final step Raelle bustled past with a refilled pot.</p><p>“Finished your work already, beautiful?” she asked.</p><p> “I’m blowing it off. I’d rather get an eyeful of the pretty lady taking a bath.”</p><p> “Then you’re gonna need a mirror.”</p><p>Scylla started, “You mean the bath—”</p><p>“—ain’t for me.” Raelle winked as she passed and dumped the pot in the tub.</p><p>Scylla’s heart clenched. “Oh.” She licked her lips, at a loss for words. “Can I help?”</p><p> Raelle flashed her a smile, one of those infectious grins that lit up her entire face. “Nope! All you gotta do is undress and get in the tub.”</p><p>“Undressing, one of my specialties,” Scylla quipped as she kissed Raelle on the cheek and before making her way across the living room.</p><p>“Lemme build that up for you—ah never mind.” Raelle threw up her hands after Scylla murmured some Work to get the fire going. She was getting better at that now she’d had some practice since using it for Beltane last year. It also, absurdly, made her feel a little better. At least <em>some</em> of her Work was useful.</p><p>Satisfied, she discarded her shirt while Raelle put down her emptied pot and busied herself pouring various salts and mixtures into the tub and creating a thick layer of bubbles. Scylla pulled her hair out of its messy bun and pursed her lips. “You didn’t have to run around like that, with the pots. I could have warmed the water up with some Work.”</p><p>Raelle shrugged, moving over and kneeling with her back to Scylla as she loaded the fire with logs. ”Maybe I wanted something to do.”</p><p>“Hm.” Scylla regarded Raelle out of the corner of her eye as she removed the rest of her clothes and dumped them on the floor. Raelle kept her gaze averted and made a furious study of the fireplace. Frowning, Scylla stepped into the bath.</p><p>The frown vanished and she sighed as she slipped into the suds, muscles loosening almost immediately. The water was almost scalding, just the way she liked it. It stung her scalp when she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Goddess, she loved baths. She took a breath before submerging herself, and the tightness in her chest uncoiled and emptied. She drifted like a vacant vessel at the bottom of the ocean, quiet and alone. It would be nice to stay here, where senses were dulled and past actions had no meaning. Burning lungs were preferable to the terrible burdens waiting in the world above.</p><p> But that world also contained Raelle.</p><p>She emerged with a gasp, opening her eyes in time to see Raelle swiftly turn back to the fireplace, her movement betraying that she had been keeping watch while Scylla was underwater.</p><p> The tightness in Scylla’s chest reformed, heavy as a stone. “That’s very uncharacteristic of you,” she said after a few moments.</p><p>Raelle’s brows furrowed as she continued her observation of the flames. “What is?”</p><p>“You’re not looking at me.” Scylla allowed some disquiet to creep into her voice. “You usually like to take a peek. Am I losing my charms?”</p><p>Raelle’s face unscrewed, and she blew a strand of hair off her chin. “Impossible.” She looked over to where Scylla had ensconced herself in the tub. “The opposite. I get distracted when your clothes are off. I don’t wanna disturb you.”</p><p>Scylla’s mouth curved as she waved Raelle over. “Maybe I want to be disturbed.”</p><p> Warmth that had nothing to do with the water spread through Scylla when Raelle returned her smile and went to grab a kitchen chair to set up next to the tub. Her expression faltered, though, when she saw how stiffly Raelle sat, with none of her usual loose-limbed ease.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” she asked, reaching up to take Raelle’s hand before remembering that she was wet and withdrawing it. Raelle noticed the movement, however, and took it anyway.</p><p>“I’m just—” Raelle huffed and then turned to look Scylla in the eye. “I know something is bothering you, Scyl. I’m trying to give you space to work it out, or talk. Or something.” She fiddled with Scylla’s fingers. “I want to help. But I know you gotta want me to.” A wry smile. “And I’m impatient. So, I’m trying to distract myself.”</p><p>“Is that what this is about?” Scylla asked, picking up a bottle and shaking it at Raelle.</p><p>“I just wanted something to do with my hands.”</p><p>Scylla took a breath. Raelle was so <em>good.</em> All the time. While she—. Well. She was who she was.</p><p>Raelle lifted her eyes from their intertwined hands. “I wasn’t joking earlier. That’s not the first time I’ve seen you face-planted on the desk. This past week, more often than not I’ve come home and things haven’t been going well for you.”</p><p> Scylla avoided Raelle’s gaze. “It’s like that, sometimes. The research can be frustrating.”</p><p>Raelle’s fingertips ghosted her face, tilting her chin so their eyes met.</p><p>“It’s happened before too.” Raelle paused, as if to emphasize her next words. “Usually around this time of year.”</p><p> Scylla’s lip quivered. She jerked her chin out of Raelle’s hand, instantly missing the contact but unable to bear the understanding in her eyes.</p><p> “You get fixated sometimes, Scyl.”</p><p>“There’s no balancing the equation.” The words slipped out before Scylla could stop them.</p><p>Raelle scowled. “That sounds like Mama talking. Not you.”</p><p>“It’s true though.” Scylla hadn’t realized that she was holding the edge of the tub in a white-knuckle grip until Raelle gently prised her fingers from it. “It’s just-It would be nice if I could make some progress.”</p><p>“I’ll say it again; that’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself.”</p><p>“I-”</p><p><em>I deserve it</em>.</p><p> Scylla didn’t say it. Those three words had caused more arguments between them than she could care to admit. And she didn’t want to fight with Raelle. Not ever, but especially not tonight, when she was trying so hard to help.</p><p>Had, in fact, drawn her a wonderful bath, for that very purpose.</p><p>“I want to do something.” Scylla squeezed their intertwined fingers. “I need to.”</p><p>“I know you do, beautiful. And you will. You are the smartest woman I’ve ever met. But this ain’t gonna happen overnight. You gotta do what you can within your means. And not cut yourself up over how long it takes.”</p><p>Overwhelmed, Scylla swallowed. “I’ll try. It’s just hard sometimes.”</p><p>“I get it. Today of all days.”</p><p>“Is that why you came home early? To check on me?”</p><p>“I—” Scylla allowed herself a small smile as Raelle cleared her throat and made a sudden study of the floor. “Yes,” she admitted.</p><p>“Well,I appreciate it.” Scylla used her arms to boost herself up to kiss Raelle’s cheek. Then she sobered. “It’s just hard for me, sometimes. Not like you. You’re a Fixer through and through.” Scylla didn’t mean it as a complaint; it was simply the truth. Helping people was as natural as breathing for Raelle.</p><p>“Yeah, but I’m not trying to heal thousands of people all at once, like with the plague cures. That’s not how it works. A few people a day here and there at the clinic. And sure, if we cared about numbers, I could heal more people if we were in a big city, or at Salem, or deployed on Tally’s peacekeeping missions. But we moved here instead. Remember why?”</p><p>“Peace.”</p><p>“Yup. Peace and quiet. Because that’s what <em>we</em> wanted. And that’s important, too. Living our lives on our own terms. We deserve it, Scyl. Don’t we?” She paused, as if seeking confirmation.</p><p>“Yes, of course,” Scylla affirmed. “It’s just—what if the research is my only shot to do something.” Her throat bobbed and she lowered her voice. “Something good.” She crossed her arms and pulled her legs up to her chest.</p><p>“It’s not,” Raelle said after several moments. “You do what you can too, Scyl. When you can.”</p><p>“Not like yo—”</p><p>“No, not like me,” Raelle interjected, voice firm. “Like you.”</p><p>Scylla almost scoffed.</p><p>“Don’t give me that look. Remember the Bradshaw kid?” At Scylla’s blank look Raelle continued, “Back when we first moved here. Remember?”</p><p>Oh. That.</p><p>Raelle was right, they had moved to Scire Well to get away and find their own piece of freedom. The piecemeal integration with the mostly human population was worth it for the peace and quiet. And for their first six months in the sleepy town, that was precisely what they got.</p><p>Until a child went missing. And for a close-knit community where such things didn’t happen very often, the panic was immediate. The wilderness surrounding the town was a big area for a small child to get lost in, especially when resources for searches were limited. Scylla had given it two days before quietly offering her services to the local law enforcement.</p><p>To this day, she was certain they wouldn’t have accepted her help if they hadn’t been so desperate. She didn’t blame them for their reticence—she was still an unknown to them and a Necro to boot. But they trusted Raelle. A powerful Fixer was always a welcome addition to any community, and that association alone had decided it.</p><p>She’d called it “reconnaissance” instead of “Necro Work” and they hadn’t asked too many questions about her methods, which had suited her just fine. And, on the verge of exhaustion after three days of continuous searching, she found the child. Her internal cynic would always wonder how the community would have reacted had the boy been dead. How different things might have been.</p><p> But the boy had been alive, sheltering in an overgrown hunting lodge in the wilds 20 miles outside of town, and her part in his rescue had won her almost instantaneous approval from the community.</p><p>But that wasn't why she had done it. Oh, she was glad for the acceptance, if only for Raelle’s sake. Good relations with the town meant so much to her. But for Scylla, the reason was simpler. A young life had been in the balance, and she had the power to save it. So, she had. That was all. A minor act easily dismissed compared to the grand ambition of her plague cures.</p><p> “I had forgotten that,” Scylla admitted, scooping up some bubbles from the bath. </p><p>“Thought so.” Raelle quirked an eyebrow. “You ain’t good at acknowledging the good things you do sometimes, Scyl.”</p><p>Scylla studied the bubbles in her hand. “That’s probably true,” she said, “Especially today.”</p><p>“I get it. But the bath is helping, right?”</p><p>“It’s incredible. I should reward you for your labors.”</p><p>Raelle cracked a grin. ”I’ve been known to take kisses in payment.”</p><p>“Wow, pricey,” Scylla said, even as she leaned forward and gave Raelle a soft kiss on the lips.</p><p>“Hey, I offer a premium service.” Raelle was beaming when she pulled away.</p><p>“I’ll say. I should tip.” Scylla pulled her back in by her collar and covered her cheeks with smooches until Raelle pushed her away, laughing.</p><p>“Oh, well. Now I have to give you the full package,” she said, bending over and rummaging through the pile of toiletries at her feet.</p><p>Scylla waggled her eyebrows. “A happy ending?”</p><p>“A hair-wash,” Raelle said, lining up some bottles on the rim of the bath.</p><p>Scylla blinked. “Oh.”</p><p> “Is that okay?”</p><p>“I—yeah.” For the second time that evening, Scylla found herself flustered by Raelle’s sweetness. Fighting to regain her footing, she manufactured a wicked grin. ”I was expecting those talented fingers to be doing something else.”</p><p>Raelle’s look was both exasperated and tender. “<em>Hair</em>, Scylla.”</p><p>Scylla blew some bubbles at her before leaning back and watching with open appreciation as Raelle rolled up her shirtsleeves and bared her arms. Raelle then scooted herself and the chair behind her, out of view. Moments later Scylla felt Raelle’s hands slide across her head and caught a waft of something floral. She leaned into the touch and closed her eyes.</p><p>“I want you to relax.”</p><p>Scylla barely registered the words as the divine combination of Raelle’s fingers massaging her scalp and the soothing scent she now identified as lavender turned her to jelly.</p><p> “Ugh.” It wasn’t her most articulate moment, not that she particularly cared at this point. She murmured a few words of Work to re-heat the bath water and draped her legs over either side of the tub. Her toes tingled in the cool air, and she wiggled them while whispering to the fire. It responded obediently, springing up into a cheerful blaze. She lost track of time, lulled by the crackle of the fire, the hypnotic patter of rain on the roof, and Raelle’s even breathing.</p><p>“Rinsing time,” Raelle murmured, eventually. The magic hands removed themselves from her scalp.</p><p>Scylla dutifully dunked her head under the water, rising with no hesitation this time. “A girl could get used to this,” she smirked, tilting her head back. From her angle all she could see was the underside of Raelle’s chin and her scar, which she reached up and traced with her index finger. “You should give up Fixing. Clearly your calling in life is to become a bathmaid.”</p><p>Raelle looked down at Scylla, hair and braids curtaining their faces. “Damn. All those wasted years. But better late than never.” Even upside-down Scylla could see her wry smile.</p><p>“Mmm, you should scrub my back.”</p><p>“That’s gonna cost extra.”</p><p>“Then come here.” Scylla used her finger to guide Raelle’s chin down and met her lips with a heated kiss. When they parted for air Raelle made to pull back, but Scylla gripped her by the lapel, searching for another.</p><p>“Thank you,” she whispered.</p><p>“Any time, beautiful. Are you feeling better now? Truly?”</p><p>“Yes,” Scylla said, somewhat surprised when she realized that she really meant it. The tension in her chest had disappeared, replaced with a pleasant warmth. “I haven’t been this relaxed in weeks. You’ve spoiled me.”</p><p>Raelle circled her arms around Scylla’s shoulders, embracing her from behind and murmuring into her ear, “You like being spoiled.”</p><p>Scylla hummed, “Well, you enjoy spoiling me.”</p><p>“Yes ma’am, that I do.” Raelle kissed her cheek and unwrapped her right arm, fingertips gliding along Scylla’s sternum. The warmth in Scylla’s chest flared and followed the trail of Raelle’s fingers as they skimmed across her ribs and down her side.</p><p>Scylla swallowed, skin tingling. “Raelle?”</p><p>The arm submerged into the water and down, down went the heat as the fingers followed Scylla’s hip line across to her stomach. Raelle’s lips grazed Scylla’s ear. “There was talk of a happy ending.”</p><p>“You shot that down,” Scylla pointed out even as she struggled to keep her breathing even. Despite her earlier flirtations, the sudden ache of genuine arousal caught her by surprise. It had been a while. She’d been out of sorts for weeks, and Raelle was not the type to push. This seemed to come from nowhere. Or maybe not. Perhaps it had been there all evening, quietly coaxed to life under Raelle’s touch.</p><p> “You weren’t feeling right.” Raelle’s elbow dipped into the water as her hand slid further down, stopping just short of Scylla’s mound. There Raelle paused, and Scylla resisted the urge to shift her hips and close the distance to her waiting hand. “It ain’t happening if you ain’t feeling right.”</p><p>If the heat pooling between Scylla’s legs was anything to go by, she was feeling very right. She answered Raelle’s unspoken question by bending her knees along the edges of the tub to allow Raelle’s hand easier access. When Raelle’s unoccupied hand trailed down to cup a breast, her breath hitched. It halted altogether when the hand teasing her lower stomach made the final dip to her center.</p><p>“Tell me if you want to stop.” Raelle’s voice was low and even as she stroked up Scylla’s folds and circled lightly over her clit.</p><p>“Goddess, <em>no,</em>” Scylla groaned as Raelle repeated the circular motion. Desperate for more friction, she canted her hips up to grind into Raelle’s hand. Her brows furrowed when the touch eased off.</p><p>“Uh-uh. Relax,” said Raelle, and pressed her lips against Scylla’s damp temple. Scylla closed her eyes as she complied, easing her hips down. “Good girl.”</p><p>The words sent a thrum of want deeper than desire through her as the circular motion returned, becoming a slow rhythm. Scylla relaxed into it, surrendering to Raelle’s languid pace. The warm ache became hot, coiling tight around the movements of Raelle’s fingers. The deft touches fanned Scylla’s arousal, bringing her near to the edge, but never quite pushing her over. It was delicious and frustrating all at once, and she squirmed with the effort not to give in and renege on Raelle’s instruction.</p><p>“You’re doing so good, Scyl,” Raelle whispered into her hair. “So, so good.”</p><p>Scylla gasped when Raelle squeezed her breast, rolling a nipple between her fingers and giving it a tug. Compared to the slow movements between her legs, the spike of sensation was almost overwhelming. But not unwelcome—after Raelle eased off with a soothing brush of her fingertips Scylla arched her back, seeking more of the intensity. Raelle obliged and Scylla choked back a moan, the combination of hard and soft building an urgency that was impossible to ignore. </p><p><em>“</em>Fuck, Raelle,” Scylla blindly groped for Raelle’s lapel with one hand and gripped the arm working her clit with the other. She kissed Raelle’s neck, dragging her teeth and tongue along her skin. Despite the steadiness of Raelle’s fingers, her pulse fluttered under Scylla’s lips. “Harder. <em>Please.</em>”</p><p>The pulse-point jumped and Raelle’s fingers quickened, forearm bunching beneath Scylla’s grip. Water sloshed out of the tub as Scylla caved and rocked her hips and ground her clit against Raelle’s fingers, back pushing against Raelle’s. Scylla could feel Raelle’s erratic heartbeat through the soft flannel of her shirt, chest heaving in time with her own whimpers.</p><p>Scylla came apart quickly, surrounded by Raelle, in her arms, breathing in her scent, murmuring against her neck. And through it all she felt as well as heard Raelle saying her name, the two syllables reverberating in her chest. </p><p>It was some time before she regained her bearings. Raelle hadn’t moved except to shift her submerged arm around Scylla’s midsection. She settled into Raelle’s arms, enjoying being held as the aftermath of her orgasm slowly dissipated, leaving a deep, pleasurable heaviness in her limbs. Her eyelids drooped as a wave of tiredness came over her.</p><p>“Hey, Scyl? You might not want to fall asleep in the bath.” Scylla could hear the amusement in Raelle’s voice even though she couldn’t see her face. She attempted a backward swat, but in her languid state it turned into a limp wave.</p><p>“You wanted me relaxed, didn’t you?”</p><p>“I did. Mission accomplished.”</p><p>“Stop acting so self-satisfied,” Scylla groused as Raelle moved her chair back to the side of the tub, beaming. “It’s not a good look.”</p><p>“Can you blame me? After what just happened?”</p><p>“Happy endings all around, is it?” </p><p>“Uh-huh.” Raelle bent over, tucking a strand of wet hair behind Scylla’s ear. “Figured you needed one.”</p><p>Scylla flushed. “Maybe I did.”</p><p>“You also might need a blanket. You setting up for the night in there? Am I going to sleep all alone in our bed?” Raelle teased.</p><p>“Don’t worry. I’m leaving,” Scylla said, examining her hands. “I think I’m pruning.”</p><p>“Good thing I like prunes then. What?” Raelle said defensively in response to Scylla’s incredulous look. “They’re good for you.”</p><p>It was such a nonsensical, charming, <em>Raelle</em> thing to say that Scylla burst out laughing. Raelle grinned in response. “What? What?”</p><p>“I love you, is what. Now help me out of the tub, none of my limbs are working.”</p><p> Willa wasn’t wrong about the impossibility of making up for past actions, Scylla mused as she took Raelle’s hand. And Raelle wasn’t wrong in suggesting that doing what she could was enough. Both Collars had a point. But the real truth probably existed somewhere in the middle, in the morally gray space between the things Scylla had done and the things she could do. And even though she had once admired Willa’s conviction, she now recognized her words for what they were; the cynical utterances of a woman tired of bloodshed, but just jaded enough to cause more. A dead-end absolutism with no future in it. Yes, Scylla thought as she looked at Raelle’s smiling face, only one Collar believed any kind of future at all.</p><p>“Whatcha thinkin’?” asked Raelle as she wrapped Scylla in a towel.</p><p>“That Willa is full of shit.”</p><p> Raelle’s eyes crinkled as she handed Scylla another towel for her hair. “I’ve been sayin’ it for years.”</p><p>“Maybe I should listen to you more often.”</p><p>“I’ve been saying <em>that</em> for years too.”</p><p>Scylla hummed and leaned against Raelle as they made for the stairs to the mezzanine.</p><p>“Bed?” Raelle asked.</p><p>“Bed,” Scylla confirmed before playfully tugging one of Raelle’s braids. “You better join me; my overworked bathmaid needs repayment.”</p><p>“Well,” Raelle responded with a cocky lift of her eyebrows, “I’m never gonna say no to more kisses.”</p><p>“Mmm, kisses. To begin with.”</p><p>“Ooh, cuddles too?”</p><p>“Oh yes. And maybe more.”</p><p>“<em>More</em>, huh? I’m definitely running you a bath again.”</p><p>“Slow down there. We just made an unholy mess. Guess who’s going to clean that up?”</p><p>“Hey, I’m the bathmaid, not the housemaid. I know when to stay in my lane.”</p><p>“How convenient.”</p><p>The good-natured bickering followed them to bed.</p><p>And then there were kisses. There were cuddles. There was the rain, easing as it passed. There was <em>more.</em> And in the morning, Scylla was certain, she would look out of the window and see the flowers again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! If you liked this, feel free to leave comments or kudos. You can also find me on Tumblr @99bad-habits. I like a chat!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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